From Pasadena to Cambridge to New York, Washington, D.C., India, Ceylon, Paris, Marseilles, Santa Barbara, and Maine, Bob Spitz re-creates an extraordinary life. He takes us beyond the image of Julia as the tall, eccentric woman with a funny voice who taught America how to cook, to establish her as a genuine rebel and beloved icon, a woman who redefined herself in middle age, helped to change the role of women in America, set the standard for how to create a public personality in the modern media world.

My Life in France

This memoir is laced with wonderful stories about the French character, particularly in the world of food, and the way of life that Julia Child embraced so wholeheartedly. Above all, she reveals the kind of spirit and determination, the sheer love of cooking, and the drive to share that with her fellow Americans that made her the extraordinary success she became.

Provence, 1970: M.F.K. Fisher, Julia Child, James Beard, and the Reinvention of American Taste

Provence, 1970 is about a singular historic moment. In the winter of that year, more or less coincidentally, the iconic culinary figures James Beard, M.F.K. Fisher, Julia Child, Richard Olney, Simone Beck, and Judith Jones found themselves together in the South of France. They cooked and ate, talked and argued, about the future of food in America, the meaning of taste, and the limits of snobbery.

The Apprentice: My Life in the Kitchen

In this captivating memoir, the man whom Julia Child has called "the best chef in America" tells the story of his rise from a frightened apprentice in an exacting Old World kitchen to an Emmy Award-winning superstar who taught millions of Americans how to cook and shaped the nation's tastes in the bargain.

The Man Who Changed the Way We Eat: Craig Claiborne and the American Food Renaissance

From the bestselling author of Alice Waters and Chez Panisse comes the first biography of the passionate gastronome and troubled genius who became the most powerful force in the history of American food - the founding father of the American food revolution.

Bohemian Bon Vivant says:"Not Much Story Once Claiborne Achieves Success"

Blood, Bones & Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef

Before Gabrielle Hamilton opened her acclaimed New York restaurant Prune, she spent twenty fierce, hard-living years trying to find purpose and meaning in her life. Above all she sought family, particularly the thrill and the magnificence of the one from her childhood that, in her adult years, eluded her. Hamilton’s ease and comfort in a kitchen were instilled in her at an early age when her parents hosted grand parties, often for more than one hundred friends and neighbors.

The Sweet Life in Paris: Delicious Adventures in the World's Most Glorious - and Perplexing - City

Like so many others, David Lebovitz dreamed about living in Paris ever since he first visited the city in the 1980s. Finally, after a nearly two-decade career as a pastry chef and cookbook author, he moved to Paris to start a new life. Having crammed all his worldly belongings into three suitcases, he arrived, hopes high, at his new apartment in the lively Bastille neighborhood.

Jennifer Sader says:"Great content, but it needs a different narrator"

Joseph Anton: A Memoir

On February 14, 1989, Valentine's Day, Salman Rushdie was telephoned by a BBC journalist and told that he had been "sentenced to death" by the Ayatollah Khomeini. For the first time he heard the word fatwa. His crime? To have written a novel called The Satanic Verses, which was accused of being "against Islam, the Prophet and the Quran". So begins the extraordinary story of how a writer was forced underground, moving from house to house, with the constant presence of a police protection team.

Loretta Lynn: Coal Miner's Daughter

Born into deep poverty, married at thirteen, mother of six, and a grandmother by the time she was twenty-nine, Loretta Lynn went on to become one of the most prolific and influential songwriters and singers in modern country music. Here we see the determination and talent that led to her trailblazing career and made her the first woman to be named Entertainer of the Year by the Country Music Association and the first woman to receive a gold record in country music.

Julia Child: A Life

Here is the delicious life of one of the most beloved figures in 20th-century American culture. With a swooping voice, an incredible sense of humor, and a passion for good food, Julia Child ushered in the nation's culinary renaissance.

Yes, Chef: A Memoir

It begins with a simple ritual: Every Saturday afternoon, a boy who loves to cook walks to his grandmother’s house and helps her prepare a roast chicken for dinner. The grandmother is Swedish, a retired domestic. The boy is Ethiopian and adopted, and he will grow up to become the world-renowned chef Marcus Samuelsson. This book is his love letter to food and family in all its manifestations. Yes, Chef chronicles Marcus Samuelsson’s remarkable journey from Helga’s humble kitchen to the opening of the beloved Red Rooster in Harlem.

The Kitchen Counter Cooking School: How A Few Simple Lessons Transformed Nine Culinary Novices into Fearless Home Cooks

After graduating from Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, writer Kathleen Flinn returned with no idea what to do next, until one day at a supermarket she watched a woman loading her cart with ultraprocessed foods. Flinn's "chefternal" instinct kicked in: she persuaded the stranger to reload with fresh foods, offering her simple recipes for healthy, easy meals.

Publisher's Summary

The definitive biography of Julia Child - with access to Julia's diaries and letters - written by the author of the best-selling and critically acclaimed The Beatles and timed to Julia's 100th birthday.

From Pasadena to Cambridge to New York, Washington, D.C., India, Ceylon, Paris, Marseilles, Santa Barbara, and Maine, Bob Spitz re-creates an extraordinary life. He takes us beyond the image of Julia as the tall, eccentric woman with a funny voice who taught America how to cook, to establish her as a genuine rebel and beloved icon, a woman who redefined herself in middle age, helped to change the role of women in America, set the standard for how to create a public personality in the modern media world, and altered the way America eats and thinks of food. There might not be a Food Network or even a PBS if Julia had not blazed the trail.

Spitz chronicles Julia's friendships, her struggles, her heartwarming romance with Paul, and of course, the story of the publication of Mastering the Art of French Cooking and her triumphant TV career. A thorough, surprising, affectionate, and extraordinarily entertaining account of a truly remarkable life.

If you want a glowing biography that shows this icon in an unfailingly positive light, this is NOT the book for you.

If you want to know more about Julia AND Paul before The French Chef and after the peak of that series, this is a great book. If you want to know more about the darker side of Julia (and it seems she did have one), this is a great book. It can be easy to get lost in some of the details, and the lists of names can be confusing. I do wish that the narrator had made a firm decision - to warble or not to warble for Juli's voice - and stuck with it throughout the book. I fully intend to read the book soon to clarify some of the things that lost me, but this lets me wait until I can get it from the library.

I am torn about this book. Don't get me wrong, I have listened to "My Life in France" and "Julie and Julia" and watched just about every PBS special ever made about Julia Child, so I thought I was familiar with her life. This book showed that those other titles may have been skewed more than I knew. While it makes her less of a shining hero, this book makes her more real. I do intend to listen again.

I would highly recommend this book. Both the story and the narrator had my attention from the first paragraph.

What did you like best about this story?

I love that we get the background for both Julia and Paul. Anything that I have seen previously regarding Paul was not in-depth. I love that both Julia and Paul, who had a true love affair that lasted 40+ years, were presented as the human beings they were with all of their faults and foibles and not some perfect super-human beings.

Which character – as performed by Kimberly Farr – was your favorite?

I think Kimberly did a wonderful job by not trying to overdue "the voice" that plagued Julia's maternal family as a result of elongated vocal cords.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Both. I laughed, I cried, I laughed again.

Any additional comments?

I am a review reader, not a review writer as a rule. When I purchased this book, it had one star and no reviews. I normally would not buy a book without reviews as I ALWAYS read reviews before purchasing, especially if the author is not known to me. But I love Julia Child. So I was quite pleased to find this was both wonderfully written and narrated. I have no clue as to why it was initially given one star. I can only say, I was sad to have finished the book. I loved feeling like a close friend to Julia.

Julia Child knew how to do little more than boil water before the age of 34. Then she learned some general kitchen prep from her sister-in-law, and then studied at the Cordon Bleu School of Cooking in Paris for the basics and more. Julia’s life, even before her cookbooks and t.v. shows, was pretty remarkable. She came from old money conservative republicans in California and there were more things she couldn’t discuss with her family than those that she could. She joined the OSS, (precursor to the CIA) during WW II, and in that organization met Paul Child. They lived in Ceylon, Paris, Oslo, Berlin, and finally back to the U.S. in Boston. Spitz details her hard work and constant devotion to French cooking, the hard time she had getting and keeping shows on television, the huge amount of time it took her to publish each of her books as she insisted that all her recipes be tested over and over to get the kinks out. She was married to Paul, who was with her for most of her endeavors second-in-command, for 40 years. Then he details how Paul’s failing health put another burden on Julia, about which she never complained. Paul had Alzheimer’s but until the very end when he forgot how to use a phone and didn’t recognize her anymore, she spoke with him daily and visited him daily when she was in town after he was placed in the nursing home. Julia was passionate, committed to several liberal causes, including Planned Parenthood, and from her first book and PBS t.v. show, changed the relationship Americans had with food. Until the very end of her life, (she lived until her mid ‘90’s, she was always ready for new adventures in cooking and maintained her leading edge status in modern cooking. Without Julia and the cooks who followed her, there probably wouldn’t be a food network today. Kimberly Farr did a great job narrating this book and portraying Julia’s character without trying to imitate her voice.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book - much more than I'd anticipated. At first the narrator didn't "sound" enough like Julia for me, but it quickly didn't matter at all. The story of Julia's life was engaging and I couldn't wait to get moments to listen to more. Highly recommend this book!

Bob Spitz got it right! While I loved, "My Life in France", it was more of a family rememberance. "Dearie" is not a fluff piece. It's not a damning piece. This is a good, honest look At Julia Child. A peek behind the curtain at private moments that will melt your heart, and some the will make you wince. Julia Child changed the way America looked at food, and she almost single handedly got PBS off the ground. And along the way she didn't just step on some toes, sometimes she made sure she broke them in the prosese. In "Dearie" you'll find the Julia you didn't know, and by the end of "Dearie" you find she's still the Julia you wish you had known. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to listen to it again. Please forgive the cliché, Bon Appetite!

I grew up on Julia Child's cooking shows. I still remember so many of her shows that have become Iconic in the food world. Her passion, different voice, and determination to do things her way were unique on TV. She is probably single handily responsible for the popularity of so many cooking shows today. Her cooking books still sell respectable every year.

The book tells her life in a lovable, interesting, and no holes bared manner. Beginning with her background within a rich family, where she and her father we vocal on opposite sides of the political spectrum. Though tall and gangly, she loved men, life, and socializing with all the interesting and important people that she could connect with, usually while eating a meal together.

Julia crossed the world to become part of the USA spy world during World War 2. Her organizational and writing skills kept her in the center of all the government's secrets. These same skill, including the need for perfection is what made her cooking skills and cook books sell millions.

She, and her husband, Paul, were a very devoted couple. Both came from the US Government overseas network. Both loved all things food. Both were perfectionists in what was important to them. Both loved all things French.

Though I've read about, and watched Julia over the years, I found this book eminently readable and fascinating. If you're a foodie at all, this book is definitely for you!!

At first I had reservations about reading this book. It is long and I thought, what is so remarkable about Julia Child? the truth is I loved it! The performance is flawless, one of the best I have listened to. I cried at the end when Julia died because by then I felt she was a good friend instead of a stranger. Wonderful book and narration! Highly recommended.

I absolutely loved this book. I think the author gave the readers a true picture of Julia Child - warts and all. She was an amazing character, someone I would love to have met.This is a very long book but that was one of the things I enjoyed most. When I knew I was getting close to the end I was wishing it could go on.One thing I would say is that "don't listen to this book if you are hungry"! The descriptions of the recipes and the food had my drooling all over my car!If you are at all in to food, cooking or just remember Julia from your childhood I think you will enjoy this book.

This lovely biography brings to life the personal and professional persona of Julia. She was a great teacher as well as a great chef. How she got to be that way is a fascinating story.This book lays it all out with wit and charm.

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